Germinal center founder cells display propensity for apoptosis before onset of somatic mutation

B lymphocytes undergo affinity maturation of their antigen receptors within germinal centers. These anatomical structures develop in secondary lymphoid organs from the clonal expansion of a few antigen-specific founder B cells, whose isolation and characterization are reported here. Human germinal center founder cells express the naive B cell markers surface IgM and IgD as well as the germinal center B cell markers CD10 and CD38. They express low levels of Bcl-2, high levels of Fas, and undergo rapid apoptosis in culture. The smaller nonproliferating sIgM(+)IgD(+)CD38(+) B cells displayed a lower level of somatic mutation in their immunoglobulin variable region genes compared with the large proliferating ones. Unmutated sIgM(+)IgD(+)CD38(+) tonsillar B cells may thus represent germinal center founder cells in which the program for apoptotic cell death is triggered before the onset of somatic mutation, allowing the selection of the germline antibody repertoire at an early stage.